1. Identification of the Agency and the Contracting Activity. The RTP Procurement Operations Division, Office of Acquisition Management, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is requesting the approval of a limited source justification for increasing the labor ceiling of Option Period II on Task Order 1668, GSA Schedule 70 Contract GS-35F-4461G, awarded under the Multiple-Award ITS-EPA II Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA). This labor ceiling increase does not include any change to the labor categories or labor rates in the Task Order; the scope and nature of work remain unchanged. 2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved. The ITS-EPA II BPAs were competed via GSA Schedule 70 to support EPA?s IT infrastructure requirements. Seven vendors were selected and awarded BPAs which allows each to compete for task orders to support EPA?s IT requirements. Science Applications International Corporation (hereafter referred to simply as SAIC) provides Hosting Support Services under the aforementioned Task Order. This Task Order was competed among the seven ITS-EPA-II BPA holders and was awarded on 9/30/2010. This task order has a Base Period (October 1 through September 30, 2010) and five Option Periods corresponding to Fiscal Years 2012 through 2016. This Task Order is currently on Option Period IV. It is managed by EPA?s Office of Environmental Information (OEI)/Office of Technology Operations & Planning (OTOP)/National Computer Center (NCC). OEI/OTOP/NCC requests this ceiling increase during Option Period II (FY 2013) in response to the increased in-scope workload requirements in the Option Period II as requested by the Hosting Services TOCOR (Timothy Hinds) related to the following: 1. Email Migration project, 2. HSSB TZ project support, and 3. Sever sprawl support (server(s) build out and management for email. This requested task order ceiling increase is essential to ensure that OTOP/NCC can provide the critical infrastructure services. Without an increase in the ceiling, all work on this Task Order would have ceased approximately 4th quarter of FY13 as the task order would have reached its ceiling. Such cessation of work will disrupt email all across the EPA, supported projects, negatively impact ORD research and activities, and jeopardize the successful implementation of mission-critical projects. 3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency's needs: The Agency requires a labor ceiling increase for the subject Task Order, because the labor ceiling for this task order was based on historic Working Capital Fund (WCF) Technical Consulting (TZ) service levels. The TOCOR issued technical direction to the contractor for the above referenced services and support that was determined to be within-scope of the then current PWS in order to maintain uninterrupted fully functional 24/7/365 day services. In order prevent interruption of services and critical loss of enterprise services, the contractor was given technical direction to continue services (additional labor hours only) but, not to exceed the labor hour ceiling, ODC ceiling, or the total Task Order ceiling. This has increased the estimated price for Option Period II by a total of $185,010.11. This ceiling increase does not include any change to the labor categories or labor rates in the Task Order. The scope and nature of work remain unchanged, and only the volume of work is affected. 4. Identification of the authority and supporting rationale. In accordance with FAR 8.405-6(a)(C); it is the Government's position that the additional level of effort called for in this proposed labor hour ceiling increase action is a logical follow-on to an original Federal Supply Schedule order that was placed in accordance with applicable Federal Supply Schedule ordering procedures. The Task Order was awarded competitively under EPA?s Multiple-Award ITS-EPA II BPA and GSA Schedule 70. This labor ceiling increase action does not involve any changes to the labor categories or the labor rates in the original Task Order. Additionally, the scope and nature of work remain unchanged. Any change from the existing contractor (SAIC) to another contractor in the ITS-EPA II BPA to support this additional level of labor effort would cause unacceptable delays; result in damaging disruption to mission-critical projects currently supported; add procurement, transition and contractor Program Management Office (PMO) costs; and increase complexity and cost by introducing the need to manage two Task Orders (instead of one, as at present) for the same support effort. 5. A determination by the contracting officer that the order represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d). The task orders issued under EPA?s ITS-EPA II BPAs (including the subject Task Order) are all under the vendor?s GSA Schedule 70 contract. Price evaluations were conducted on each task order to determine if the proposed price, level of effort and the mix of labor were fair and reasonable. Each task order resulted in the best value to meet the Government?s needs. For the ceiling increase, it is EPA?s intention to utilize the prices already set forth in the current subject Task Order which have already been competed and determined fair and reasonable. 6. A description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results. The existing Task Order was awarded competitively under the ITS-EPA II BPA and GSA Schedule 70. There are seven BPA holders under ITS-EPA II; the Task Order was competed amongst those ITS-EPA II BPA holders. 7. Any other facts supporting the justification. None. 8. A statement of any actions the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required. No actions are currently available to remove or overcome any barriers that preclude the Agency from meeting the requirements of 8.405-1, because of the nature of the items being procured. 9. The ordering activity contracting officer's certification that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of the contracting officer's knowledge and belief. The Contracting Officer certifies that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. Joel P. Smith, 3/09/15, Contracting Officer, Office of Acquisition Management 10) Technical or Requirements Personnel Certification: This is to certify that the provided supporting information which is the responsibility of the undersigned program representative is accurate and complete. Timothy Hind, 3/09/15 Task Order COR, OEI.
